The fun I’m missing

A rather loud kerfuffle is going to occur today in Michigan. And a lot of lies are going to be stated and repeated.

First, Rick Synder NEVER said he disagreed with Right to Work legislation. It wasn’t his priority when he took over. It became his priority when the unions put legislation on the ballot.

And, labor and management CANNOT WORK TOGETHER to make Michigan a vibrant economy. The proof is around us.

Labor and management (code for union power) is a complete and utter fail.

Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero is on the radio talking about how unions are the ultimate in democracy- and that someone doesn’t have the option to NOT pay union dues if they are in a union, just as one doesn’t have the option to not pay their taxes if they vote for the loser. And that everyone benefits from unions.

You can tell this is a big deal based on the fury of Big Labor’s reaction. Union activists plan to descend on Lansing Tuesday to protest, including many from out of state. State police will have to be on duty to ensure that legislators can get through what is likely to be a loud and abusive cordon of activists who want to block the vote.

This thuggishness is a deliberate and familiar union political strategy: Cause as big a ruckus as possible in hopes of making right to work seem radical when it’s already the law in nearly half the country.

Three school districts are closed, today, in Michigan because the teachers are going to Lansing to protest.

*head explodes*

The law allows folks to opt out of the union. The argument is that the worker HAS to pay union dues because the majority (of the workers) have decided, and that the dues are like taxes.

But, you see, unions are a complete and utter fail that (now often) exist for themselves and could care less about that evil “profit”, because they are – at their core – communist organizations.

Right to work isn’t going to bring back child labor and no paychecks (Geoffery FIeger is actually running a commercial that makes that claim).

Meanwhile, at the capital’s union offices, a huge organization effort is underway. It’s estimated thousands of demonstrators will turn out to protest tomorrow. Union teams have traded phone shifts, rallying supporters from across the state and the nation. Meanwhile, organizers have stockpiled posters and appointed “marshals” to ensure good behavior on their march in Lansing tomorrow. And in Detroit, the United Auto Workers held a weekend seminar on civil disobedience in preparation for Tuesday.

They’re foaming their workers into a froth, scaring them with what is going to happen to their wages, etc. But the reality of the situation is that the UNIONS are going to lose what they value most. That money.

Unions are furious because right-to-work laws will cost them money and members. In 2010, the Heritage Foundation estimated that union coffers would lose $46.5 million a year if Michigan adopted right-to-work legislation. Similar laws in other states resulted in double-digit percentage drops in union rosters. And there’s also the symbolic significance — Michigan has long been a union stronghold.

It’s going to get ugly, but I’ll be working at my non-union job today. I thought about taking the day off, but I don’t get a “personal” day for such things, and the horrible, horrible Michigan economy means that I need every dollar I can make.

The unions have been instructing their people over the past week on how to disrupt the proceedings today. Lansing in on high alert, and the Mayor – who is orchestrating this – is a DEMOCRAT who doesn’t support Right to work. So do not believe the line that Republican fascists are going to suppress democracy today.

For example, according to the most recent federal filings, the Michigan Education Association — the state’s largest labor union — received $122 million and spent $134 million in 2012. They averaged about $800 from each of their 152,000 members.

According to union documents, “representational activities” (money spent on bargaining contracts for members) made up only 11 percent of total spending for the union. Meanwhile, spending on “general overhead” (union administration and employee benefits) comprised of 61 percent of the total spending.